


You'll be Back

by BlanketFortAvenger



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Behavior, Canon-Typical Violence, Complete, Dark Comedy, Hamilton Lyrics, Happy Ending, M/M, Other TFTB Characters Mentioned, Ownership, Post-Canon Fix-It, Power Dynamics, Tales From the Borderlands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25304287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlanketFortAvenger/pseuds/BlanketFortAvenger
Summary: “Jack?” Rhys tenses in his shock, his eyes searching for a telltale blue.“Rhysie, baby. What’s gotten into that sexy, little brain of yours? You don’t belong down here”. Rhys raises his gun.With Rhys gone, Jack realises that his plan to hijack Rhys' body may have had a few drawbacks. Despite their estrangement, Jack knows that it's only a matter of time before his cupcake remembers where he belongs - and who he belongs to.
Relationships: Handsome Jack/Rhys (Borderlands)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 68





	You'll be Back

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the Hamilton song of the same title. It will be best if you've heard the song, so I suggest giving it a listen if you haven't. Written for a fan of Hamilton and Borderlands, and posted in celebration of the musical's screen debut.

Being in control is the absolute tits, Jack learned this early. The first taste is usually what has people hooked, but for him it had been the profound reality that not being in control was a sure-fire way to get skull-dragged through life kicking and screaming. So, Jack had been pretty chuffed when Rhys had connected him back up to Helios.

Having full command of the entire space-station, of every subsystem and operation, allowed him unmeasurable control. Jack had felt relief. Then Rhys had left. 

Rhys had given him control back at the Atlas facility, and Jack didn’t have any reason to think that had changed. Until, that is, Rhys made it abundantly clear that he didn’t want Jack to have control anymore. That’s when he realises:

The best thing about having control wasn’t getting it – it was being given it.

Jack had never been given control before; he’d always had to take it. So, having coaxed Rhys to willingly let him control his body hadn’t just been the tits, it had been planet-shattering, mind-fucking ecstasy. He’d expected it to feel the same once he was inhabiting an indestructible endoskeleton inside of the kid’s body.

He still thinks it would – if Rhys would just agree. Maybe that was why he’d let Rhys hijack the shuttle headed back to Pandora. He’d been angry at Rhys’ betrayal, but somewhere in the haze of fury he’d known that taking the control just wouldn’t have felt as good.

Then, during the weeks following Rhys’ sudden immigration back to Pandora, Jack had his final epiphany about control. Without Rhys, there was no one left who would give him control. Not like Rhys had.

His kitten had potential, albeit raw potential. Rhys was a danger to everyone, especially himself, and anyone that dangerous intrigued Jack. If Rhys would submit willingly for him to command, would let him form that potential – that was what Jack craved.

If only Rhys hadn’t gone and thrown it all away.

Granted, in retrospect, Jack would have been left satisfied for all of five minutes before he realised that he’d gone and shot himself in the – well, in Rhys’ foot. Jack sends a volley of moon shots to hail fire down upon a bandit camp, just to ease his frustration.

“You’ll be back,” Jack murmurs, watching the resulting plume of dust and heat hit the atmosphere, but it does little to help his mood.

Rhys was no bandit, and Jack knew that his cupcake hated everything about living on Pandora. Everything he’d done for Jack was to secure his position back on Helios, to stand beside Jack. Rhys would miss his Hyperion comforts, and nothing short of Helios dropping out of the sky would keep him away. All there was for Jack to do was take solace in the knowledge that any day now, he’d be back. Well, that and spend a few million to forcibly remind his pumpkin of where he belongs.

After a rough month of complete black noise on the whereabouts of his naughty kitten, a scouting drone captures footage of Rhys at an abandoned Atlas waystation, and pings coordinates. Jack connects to the drone’s live feed to see what his cupcake is up to.

He watches the young man hack into a weapon’s cache. For several minutes, Rhys stares between the loot and the Hyperion gun he’d previously been using. Jack grins victoriously when Rhys forgoes the new tech to hold on to his ancient and practically useless pistol. Of course, Jack had no issues dragging a model from before he was even hired at the company. The young man sighs dejectedly as he runs his thumb over the rusted Hyperion embossing.

That gun was going to get his kitten killed. Jack patches through to the drone’s audio system, and Rhys jerks his head up at the crackle of the speaker activating. Jack chuckles eerily.

“Oh cupcake, that’s the kind of reckless loyalty that I like to see”. Rhys flinches, and makes a conscious decision to hurl the gun across the room. It doesn’t go off because it’s so old that it has a safety. If Jack had a physical body, he thinks he’d be ill.

“Jack?” Rhys tenses in his shock, his eyes searching for a telltale blue, as he slowly backs up to the cache to pick up one of the Atlas handguns.

“Rhysie, baby. Why so sad?” Jack tuts as if he’s disappointed, and not ecstatic. “What’s gotten into that sexy, little brain of yours? You don’t belong down here”. Rhys raises his gun.

“I’m not going to be your meat puppet, Jack. You can take your endoskeleton and you can shove – well, that’s the issue, isn’t it?” Rhys goes to fold his arms, but changes his mind when he remembers that he’s holding a gun. Jack wants to grab his wrists before Rhys shoots himself in the armpit.

“No, I have much bigger plans for you, kiddo. I promise that you get to keep that hot piece of yours. All you need to do is hop on the next shuttle back to Helios”.

“Oh, and how long will that last? Is there time for pizza _and_ a movie this time? Fat chance, Handsome”. Rhys’ new echo eye flashes gold, and his gaze zeros in on the drone. He takes aim. Jack laughs darkly.

“Think about it, Rhysie. So, I scuffed up a little and you betrayed me, but I kept my promise, right? We’ve seen each other through it all. We’ve seen each other through Pandora. Don’t throw away this thing we have”.

“And what do we have, Jack?” Rhys sighs and his shoulders slump. Jack wants to believe that he’s wearing him down, but Rhys’ aim stays steady.

“Oh, kitten. What do you want it to be?” Jack’s leer is nothing but a digital signal being translated as different frequencies, but he thinks it plays pretty well.

“I- it doesn’t matter. It’s not a price that I’m willing to pay”.

“Time will tell, pumpkin”.

“No, Jack. I will run from you for forever if I have to. I’m not coming back. You can fight this fight, but you won’t win the war”.

“Now you’re making me mad, cupcake” Jack growls warningly. “I’m not going to come after you, because I don’t need to. Pandora is only going to make you realise everything that you left behind, which was everything you’ve ever wanted, because you’ll remember you belong to me”. Rhys pulls the trigger. Jack loses the feed. Hyperion loses half its marketing department to an airlock malfunction.

Three weeks later, and Jack thinks he’s got it all worked out. He finally has a physical presence, and the only downside is that now his frustration is also physical. He has his life back, he has complete control over Helios, and he has his indestructible endoskeleton. Most importantly, he has his signature looks in the flesh, and said flesh isn’t going to rot off his metal skull. The bionics department had all received raises, they had done damn fine work.

There was only one thing he didn’t have, and Jack thinks he knows why.

Jack had realised that there were several things that might be tethering Rhys to Pandora, and when push comes to shove, three scores of lethal firepower is almost always the solution. The men and woman of the Human Resources department were some of Hyperion’s most ruthless employees. Regularly recruiting new blood, and trimming and fat, they could be merciless. Jack was counting on it.

“Okay, the small nerd is actually unsettlingly ripped, when you try to kill him make sure you’re not within face punching range”. Jack instructs the excited group of HR reps, grinning and hugging their assault rifles. He’d told them that the employees to take out the most of Rhys’ companions would get a promotion. “Also, the babe with the hat might have a gun up her sleeve, literally. I think that’s it. Now, get down there, and remember to have fun”.

Jack doesn’t bother to watch the shuttle take off for the planet’s surface, instead heading back to his office to watch from the comfort of his chair. One of the best things about having a body again had to be that chair. Jack is steps away when he finds that his throne is inexplicably occupied. The chair turns, and leaning back against its luxurious plushness, is Rhys. Jack grins.

“Well now, what’d I say?” Jack sings smugly, advancing on Rhys. One hand on his desk, and the other on the arm of the chair, Jack closes in, looming over his long-lost kitten. Rhys looks up at him, a bold look in his eyes.

“You look good, Jack”.

“I know. Don’t change the subject”, he growls. Rhys loses some of his confidence, as Jack leans in further. He doesn’t look away, but chooses to look up at him through his lashes.

“You were right. I don’t belong down on Pandora, and you said you wouldn't come after me, and you didn't. That, impressed me. You - also promised that you weren’t going to kill me”. The last point is reluctantly tacked on as a reminder.

“Uh nahuh, I promised that you’d get to keep your body”. Jack laughs at Rhys’ stunned expression. Jack pulls Rhys up out of the chair, and turning them takes his rightful seat in his throne, pulling Rhys down onto his lap.

He does it slowly, Rhys has every opportunity to struggle, but the young man only leans into Jack’s gravity. Jack's heart rate picks up as Rhys lets him manipulate him. Rhys chuckles, nervously as he surveys their new position. “Relax, remember we made an arrangement. Nothing’s going to happen to you”. Jack runs a hand down Rhys’ spine, to feel the shiver that runs along it. “What else did I say?” Rhys huffs, indignant to say what he knows Jack wants to hear. When he does say it, it’s just a breath of something desperately hopeful.

“That I belong to you”.

“Welcome back, cupcake”. Jack whispers. Rhys rolls his eyes, and Jack leans in for a kiss so smug that Rhys can feel his smirk against his lips. Rhys’ smile is genuine, despite how hard he tries to make it seem indulgent.

With just a thought, Jack cancels the assassination of Rhys’ friends. His kitten’s content expression, illuminated by the resulting shuttle explosion, is the most mind-fuckingly pretty thing Jack has ever witnessed.


End file.
